Coaching Cooking

I’ve held out for a long time, but now I must do the inevitable Gilmore Girls-junk food match up. I have been a fan of this show for just a few years and yet the depth of my devotion to Lorelai, Rory, Luke, Lane, Zack, the Gilmores and all of the other quirky characters can not be measured in hours alone (although I have spent more hours on this show than I care to admit, much to the dismay of AB, my male half).

So, in honor of the Lorelais, here are some great junk food match-ups:

Lorelai and Rory’s Ultimate Junk Food Meal:

Appetizers:

Buffalo wings
Nachos (see recipe below)
Fried Zucchini and ranch dressing

Entrée:

Mini cheeseburgers (by the way, this recipe looks great and has great photos to go along with it…the recipe calls for a George Foreman grill, but you could easily use a frying pan or a grill pan)
Curly fries
Virgil’s root beer (seriously, this is my favorite root beer…look for it at Trader Joe’s or other grocery stores like Whole Foods)

Dessert:

Triple chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches
S’mores tableside (see recipe below)

Recipes:

Nachos:

Ingredients:

Medium-thick tortilla chips (or be dangerous and use the thin chips)
1 can of refried beans
1 bag of finely-shredded cheddar cheese or cheese blend (try the Mexican blend)
1 cup of salsa
1 cup of sour cream
1 ½ cups guacamole
1 ½ cups of shredded lettuce
½ cup of thinly sliced green onions
¼ cup of sliced olives (optional)

Directions:

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Using a small spoon, place a small amount of refried beans on each chip and place the chips on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle a third of the cheese over the top of the chips. Add another layer of chips and beans and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Repeat the layers as desired and finish with the rest of the cheese. Bake the nachos for about 7-10 minutes until the cheese is melted, but still runny.

Remove the nachos from the oven and carefully sprinkle the nachos with the olives, green onions and shredded lettuce. Top the nachos with spoonfuls of salsa and sour cream. Serve immediately.

S’mores tableside

Ingredients:

1 bag of large marshmallows
1 box of graham crackers with each graham cracker broken in half
2 large bars of chocolate (pick the type that you like: Hershey’s, Scharffen Berger, Guittard)
6 tealight candles and a sturdy plate (have extra tealights on hand)
metal skewers

Directions:

Place the marshmallows and graham crackers on a plate. Break the chocolate into small pieces (about 2� square pieces). Place the tealights on the sturdy plate and light them carefully. Each guest can take a metal skewer and a marshmallow. The tealights are not too strong so the marshmallows will take several minutes to toast. Serve the toasted marshmallows sandwiched between the graham crackers and chocolate. This is a great dessert for people who want to chat and who need a little time to digest the plethora of food that preceded dessert!

Gilmore Girls, junk food, nachos, root beer, s’mores, mini cheeseburgers, fried zucchini